Assurances to expatriates: Govt to overcome energy crisis within few years: PM Nawaz

Says 21,000MW will be added to national grid within next eight to 10 years.

LONDON:

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said that the Pakistan would overcome power and gas crises within few years as all-out efforts were under way in this regard.

Addressing the Pakistani community in the United Kingdom, the prime minister reiterated his resolve to rid the country of the energy crisis, saying that the government would add another 21,000MW of electricity to the national grid within the next 8 to 10 years.

He thanked the British prime minister for cooperating in Pakistan’s development and said that the UK had offered cooperation to Islamabad in various fields, including energy and counter-terrorism.

The UK was willing to maintain friendly ties with Pakistan and that Islamabad always supported good ties with all neighbouring states, he added.

Recounting the government’s efforts to strengthen the national economy, Nawaz said the investors’ confidence has been restored as a result of the effective economic policies of the government.

He said the government’s expenditures have been slashed by 30 per cent.

The prime minister told the Pakistani expatriates that tax recovery has been increased by 16 percent while the remittances have witnessed 12 percent increase. He assured the community that each public penny was trust with the government that would be spent on their welfare.

Premier Nawaz said Diamer-Bhasha and Dasu dams would contribute around 9,000MW of electricity, adding the government would construct Diamer-Bhasha Dam even from its own resources if it did not receive any foreign assistance. He said the government would soon initiate work on Lahore-Karachi Motorway.

He told the gathering that the petroleum prices have been reduced thrice, adding that country’s growth ratio would be doubled within next three years. He said only the democratic states could achieve progress and that everyone would have to contribute its due share for national progress.

He said tolerance was inevitable for national politics as the PML-N also adopted the same policy during the last five years. He added that for the first time a democratic transition has been successfully completed that should continue in future as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2014.